Opioid medication is commonly prescribed in the United States to patients with severe pain. Aside from the addictive properties, there are several possible side effects. The most frequently seen side effect associated with this type of medication is constipation, known by the term Opioid Induced Constipation and commonly abbreviated as OIC.
Patients who suffer from this and need to be on the medication long-term often stick with the drugs and attempt to alleviate the side effect. In cases where the quality of life of a patient would decrease dramatically by ceasing the use of the pain medication it becomes a necessity.
If you are suffering from this, or any other, side effect it's very important that you let your doctor know. It's great to read up on your health problems so you can be more informed, but you should never try to self diagnose yourself instead of getting the advice from a licensed physician.
Simple preventive measure for OIC include consuming an adequate amount of water and when possible increasing the mount of exercise and physical activity that takes place each day. While these things can help, even actions as simple as these should be discussed with your physician.
Those who suffer from opioid induced constipation are often required to take additional medication to counteract with the constipation. Laxatives and or cathartics are used in the treatment of OIC. Laxatives ease defecation and cathartics accelerate it.
Those who suffer from this problem are frequently reluctant to leave their home due to the unpredictable nature of having constipation in combination with taking laxatives.
In some cases (mostly more extreme ones where other remedies fail) your doctor may make the recommendation to perform rectal intervention. Suppositories, enemas, rectal irrigation, and as a last resort manual evacuation.
Methylnaltrexone (Relistor), which is delivered by way of subcutaneous injection and approved by the United States FDA in 2008, counteracts constipation as well as other effects such as itching. It binds to the same receptors as the opioid medication but acts as an antagonist. Since it carries a positively charged nitrogen atom, it is unable to enter the brain (unable to cross the blood-brain barrier). Unfortunately, with some types of pain this may decrease the effectiveness of the drug in question.
The medical community recognizes that opioid induced constipation is a serious problem. And since the likelihood one will experience this nasty side effect is so high due to the high percentage of those that encounter it, research has not halted on the subject.
2011-10-17